Summary
Portrait of James Burston, Lord Mayor Lieutenant 1908-10
James Burston was born at Kilmore, Victoria in 1856 and came to Melbourne in 1868. He had a long and distinguished army career. In 1873 he joined the Victorian volunteer force, was promoted to major in 1889, and became lieutenant-colonel in charge of the battalion in 1895. In 1915 he was given command of the Seventh Infantry Brigade and served in Egypt and Gallipoli. He retired from the Army in the year of his death in 1920 with the honorary rank of major general.
Burston was elected unopposed to the City Council in 1900 where he served for twelve years. He was actively concerned with the beautification of the Yarra and its adjoining gardens, and played a major part in arrangements regarding the erection of Melbourne’s memorial to King Edward VII in the Queen Victoria Gardens.
James Clarke Waite (1832-1920) was born in England and arrived in Melbourne in 1886. He painted mainly portraits and landscapes, including the well-known portraits of Louis Buvelot and the posthumous portrait of Alfred Felton held at the National Gallery of Victoria. This portrait painting has been re-trimmed, repainted and re-signed, presumably as a result of damage caused by the 1925 Town Hall fire, in which many of Waite’s paintings are believed to have been lost.
